Wireless telephones are popular, ubiquitous devices. It is now possible to make and receive phone calls from almost any place in the world. Communication is even possible from remote and undeveloped areas using wireless satellite telephones. Herein, the term wireless telephone refers to any device capable of transmitting and receiving voice and/or data (non-voice) information to and from a network without the use of wires, cables, or other tangible transmission media. So-called cellular telephones are a common example of wireless phones.
Wireless telephones and the networks by which they communicate operate according to various technologies, including analog mobile phone service (AMPS), circuit switching, packet switching, wireless local area network (WLAN) protocols such as IEEE 802.11 compliant networks, wireless wide-area networks (WWAN), short-range RF systems such as Bluetooth, code division multiple access (CDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), frequency-division multiplexing (FDM), spread-spectrum, global system for mobile communications (GSM), high-speed circuit-switched data (HCSD), general packet radio system (GPRS), enhanced data GSM environment (EDGE), and universal mobile telecommunications service (UMTS). Of course, these are only examples, and other technologies may be employed in wireless communication as well.
Herein, the term ‘wireless device’ is meant to include wireless telephones (including cellular, mobile, and satellite telephones), and also to include a variety of other wireless devices, including wireless web-access telephones, automobile, laptop, and desktop computers that communicate wirelessly, and wireless personal digital assistants (PDAs). In general, the term ‘wireless device’ refers to any device with wireless communication capabilities.
Many companies produce wireless telephones and other wireless devices. Among the more well-known producers are Nokia®, Ericsson®, Motorola®, Panasonic®, Palm® Computer, and Handspring®. A variety of producers also provide wireless devices comprising versions of the Microsoft® Windows® operating software.
Modern wireless devices may accept a subscriber identity module (SIM). The SIM identifies a subscriber of the network by which the wireless device communicates. A “subscriber” represents one or more persons or entities (corporations, partnerships, agents, operators, etc.) with access privileges to the network. A subscriber may be or represent a single user, or may represent one or more users. “User” refers to any person (or, conceivably, autonomous or semi-autonomous logic) with access privileges to the network. Typically the user is the operator of a terminal device, although a user could also be the operator of a device or devices that provide services via the network.
“Terminal device” refers to any device employed by a user to access the network environment. A mobile device, also called mobile equipment, is a portable terminal device that typically, but not necessarily, is also a wireless device. Laptop computers are examples of mobile devices.
A “service” is information and acts available via the network. Examples of services include the Short Message Service (SMS), email, and stock quotes. A “service provider” is any device or combination of devices that provides services via the network environment. Typically, a service provider provides information delivery to terminal devices, and/or performs network actions in response to requests from terminal devices. A service provider may also provide information delivery and/or network actions on behalf of another service provider.
A problem may arise when devices are employed to access the network by multiple subscribers. For example, a first subscriber may employ a computer to access the network and may reconfigure the computer's settings to provide compatibility with the services that the subscriber is authorized to receive from the network. A second subscriber may later attempt to employ the computer to access the network and a set of services authorized for the second subscriber. However, the computer's configuration may be incompatible with the second subscriber's services, leading to problems with accessing the services and/or using the computer. Other problems may arise when a SIM is moved to a terminal device that is not configured for access to the network to which the subscriber has access privileges, and/or when the terminal device is moved to a location where the device configuration is insufficient to access network services. These problems in turn can lead to decreased customer satisfaction, increases in help calls, and lost revenue for the network operator and service providers.
GSM technology provides separate identities for devices that access GSM networks, and the users of those devices. Thus, a device that accesses a GSM network may comprise a device identifier, to distinguish the device from others that access the network. Each person that uses the device may be assigned a subscriber identifier. Thus, a single subscriber may, at different times, access the GSM network from multiple devices, and a single device may be employed to access the network by multiple subscribers.
An equipment identify registry (EIR) is a network element responsible for collecting and managing device identifiers. The collection of device identifiers comprised by an EIR may be applied for fraud control, customer service, and other uses. Some networks employing technology other than GSM do not provide for separate equipment and subscriber identity, and thus to not employ an EIR. TDMA networks are an example of networks that do not provide for separate device and subscriber identity. Providing for EIR-type functionality in such networks may involve cost-prohibitive replacement and/or upgrades of switching and other network elements.